Hope in Dark Places
by KatyLynne
Summary: Hades' life sucks; his wife's cheating on him and his job is hard and time-consuming. He's tired. But, what would happen if another goddess came on the scene? Will she be enough to give him his hope back?
1. Chapter 1

**Hope in Dark Places**

_**Chapter One**_

A man lies in a field. Glittering lights hover in the sky above him. The dewy grass tickles his cheek. Closing his dark blue, almost black eyes, the man sighs. Sweet perfume from the wildflowers fills the air. He is surrounded by beauty. But it wasn't real. None of it was real. This man, if you can call him that, is named Hades.

I groan. _I miss the surface_. But with the dramatic increase in human population and thousands of people dying every hour, I was far too busy to go to the mortal world.

I hate the fake stars in the fake sky. I tried, a millennium ago, to recreate the surface as best I could, here in Elysium. It's just not the same.

Speaking of thousands of people dying per hour, I have a job to do. Unfortunately for me, I can't slack off, like Zeus and Poseidon do. Or any of the Olympians, to be honest. _What do they even do these days? _Not actually caring enough to think about the answer, I transport myself to his throne room. Thanatos is there to meet me.

A common misconception is that I am the God of Death. I am not. I am the God of the Underworld. There _is_ a difference, you know. Thanatos is the God of Death. He's a minor, but one of my favourite 'underlings'. I wish I was the God of Death. It's a much easier job, much less time-consuming. However, I have to say, the perks aren't quite so good.

Thanatos takes one look at me and groans.

"Sire, surely you know that is _not_ appropriate attire for a king." I look down at my simple black tee, whitewashed grey jeans and bare feet. Don't see anything wrong with it.

"If I'm the King, Reap, then I decide what's appropriate," I say with a grin. I don't usually display such arrogance, but Reap's my best friend. He knows it's only a joke.

"Don't call me Reap, Hades. I swear to Zeus!" Rolling my eyes, I walk past him towards my throne.

"Then don't call me Sire." Tos grins at that.

"Touché."

I plant my ass on a black velvet cushion. Oh, excuse me, my _royal_ ass. Damn, my throne is so uncomfortable. Why in Tartarus did I make it so hard? I mean, sure, obsidian looks cool, but it doesn't really make for the best chairs.

"What's on the agenda for today, Tos?"

"Well, Mrs Matthews in London died a minute ago."

"Ha, the stubborn old bird held on as long as she could. I mean, she was 114."

"She's on her way to Elysium now."

"Bless her. Anything else?"

"Well, you have a visitor." Hmm? I'm aware of everyone in the Underworld. I know exactly the where and who of everyone in my domain. I search my brain. Nope, no one who shouldn't be here.

"Who?"

"Me," the voice of thunder crackles and howls from the corner. I groan, sit my elbow on the armrest and rub my forehead.

"What do you want, brother dearest?" Zeus hates it when I call him that. That's why I do it. My brother, _younger _brother, looks the epitome of the term 'Greek god.' His pretentiousness couldn't allow him to wear modern clothes; no it was all ancient battle armour for Mr Hotshot over there. Ha, he even brought his shield. Cute. He hasn't changed his beard in a hundred years, still all salt and pepper and so long he could tuck it into his belt. My own chin is covered in stubble, as beards are itchy but being clean-shaven feels weird. So, I like to keep a bit of dark stubble. There's nothing wrong with that. I reckon it makes me look devilishly handsome, actually. Zeus's beard just makes him look old.

"I want you to stop calling me that. I am your King."

"Is that all you came to tell me, Bolt? Seems like a heck of a journey if that's all." Um, maybe I shouldn't have said that. Bolt's starting to look like he's getting a hernia.

"Hera sent me. She seems to think that I need to develop better relationships with my brothers." I laugh at him. Very loudly and vigorously. Zeus stopped caring about Poz and I the second we had helped him to defeat Cronos. Typical Hera, though. Being the Goddess of Family and Marriage, she can't help meddling in our lives. She means well, I guess, and she needs something to take her mind of her husband's latest affair. This time with a Nereid, which is adventurous for Zeus, truth be told.

"And how is your darling wife? Not that I believe you care about her."

"I do care about her! I made her queen! I gave her children!" I shake my head, poor delusional Zeus. Why can't he see how much he hurts Hera with all his affairs and illegitimate children? He forced Hera to marry him and now she suffers because he managed to make her love him. She has no escape because divorce is against her nature as a goddess. I know how much her situation sucks. At least I'm not in love with my estranged spouse.

"You're an idiot, Bolt. But I'm not going to try to get through to you. It's impossible." Zeus's face is a mottled red and his hands clench. He's two seconds from decking me.

"Oh yeah? Well, if you're such a great husband, how's _your _wife? Still fucking every man who moves but you?" I flinch. Low blow. He's the one that made me marry the shrew in the first place. "In fact, I remember her paying me a visit…"

I roll my eyes. "She's your daughter." That makes his triumphant expression fall. "Oh yeah, that's right."

"Why are you here, Zeus?" I'm sick of his bull.

"I told you. Hera sent me." I know he's lying. I raise one eyebrow. His eyes shift around, but he doesn't speak his true purpose. Fine, he doesn't need to tell me. He just needs to leave. I decide to give him a taste of his own medicine. I sit up straight with my shoulders back, emulating the king I hated being.

"If that is why you are here, leave. I do not have the patience to deal with you, Zeus. Go back to your kingdom and do not return." My voice takes the cold, disdainful tone I had perfected years before.

"You cannot speak to me like that, Hades! I am your king!" He rages, thunder and lightning filling my throne room. I will not be intimidated.

"Then what do you want, _your majesty_?" I harden my voice with spite. Zeus looks shocked, but he actually gives in. Surprising, coming from my stubborn baby brother.

"I… I have another child. Hera is after him. I want you to protect him here." I sigh; I already kind of knew that it was going to be something like that. Jeez, Zeus exhausts me.

"You want me to raise your baby son for you? Here, in the land of the dead?"

"No one else wanted to cross their queen," he says resentfully. "Not even for their king."

"How wise of them. No, I do not want another ward. Bringing demigods to the Underworld never ends well. Remember Achilles? Orpheus? The last one of your sons you sent here went mad."

"I know, I know. But there is nowhere else."

"No, Zeus. You'll have to deal with Hera yourself."

"She will kill my son."

"At least then he would actually belong here. The living cannot handle the realm of the dead."

Zeus glares at me. Goodness, he does an awful lot of glaring, doesn't he? I wish he'd just leave. Every time I decide to help with his children problems, it backfires. Not again.

"Fine then. I will see you at the next solstice, brother." Zeus vanishes with a puff of blue smoke that smells strangely of rain.

"Oh, good, he's gone. You two get so intense when you argue." Tos's voice comes from my left and I jump. Was he here the whole time?

"I know. Tos, did I make the right decision? I may have just sentenced the poor kid to death."

"You may have, but if you allowed him to come here, you would have. Mortals that cling to life cannot come here, and the ones that do are forever changed because of it."

Tos is right. No way can I allow another demigod here. I have only just finished cleaning up after the last one.

"I'm sorry, Grim, but you have another visitor." I grin at the nickname. Fair enough. If he's Reaper, then I certainly am Grim.

"Who is it now?"

"Your wife."

"Fuck."

_*Hi there, Katy here. I wanted to write this piece because I always felt bad for Hades. Also, I hate Persephone, so I wanted him with a goddess that I actually like. You'll find out who in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it! I had fun writing it. I appreciate constructive criticism, so if you help me improve as a writer, I'd be grateful. Please review! Thanks.*_


	2. Chapter 2

**Hope in Dark Places**

_**Chapter Two**_

A woman sits at a bar. The worn out wood under her pale white hands was slightly sticky, which worried her a little. This place smelled terrible, like vomit and stale sweat. This woman really didn't want to be here, as she continued to nurse her cheap beer. But she couldn't leave; she had a job to do. This woman, if you can call her that, is named Nemesis.

I don't like my name anymore. I mean, it sounds cool. _Nemesis_.But these days, my name is synonymous with "worst enemy" and "biggest rival." It's not really my name anymore. I'm the Goddess of Retribution, or revenge, if you will. Not of enemies and rivals. But people have forgotten that. Even Olympians think I'm basically for hire to knock someone down a peg or two. That is not my job! My job is to balance good with bad. Like if you have too many good things in your life, I send you some bad to even it out. Or if you've got too many bad things, I give you some good. I'm the Goddess of Giving People What They Deserve, I guess.

Speaking of giving people what they deserve… there he is. I grin to myself. Sometimes I love my job. A greasy poker player saunters to the game table. He sits with an arrogant grin. He's been winning for far too long.

I get up and leave my beer behind. I walk through the crowds of low class mortals and I make my way to the bathroom. My real appearance, whenever I feel like looking divine, is striking. Not sexy like Aphrodite (the cow) or elegant like Hera or even classic like Athena. I'm "striking." At least, that's what my parents tell me.

My thick, black, wavy hair falls down to my butt. My eyes are emerald green, above high cheek bones. I have very pale skin, like my mother. I'm rather tall and my figure is curvy, but not extremely voluptuous like the cow. Man, what I'd do to pay her a visit.

However, my looks now wouldn't work for the job I'm on. I change, shimmering dust covering my form. When it disappears, I look completely different.

Good lord, I look like a tramp. My blonde hair is looks bleached and is completely straight. My skin's fake tan is almost, _almost_ orange. Hmm… I don't think men will notice the appalling tan, to be honest, as I look down at my chest. My usual C's are now E's and don't look real at all. Men won't notice the falseness, but they will certainly notice the size.

I put the dumbest expression on my face that I can manage and walk out of the bathroom. I stumble my way to the poker table, acting the giggly drunk.

"Ooh, poka! I luuuuve poka!" I laugh shrilly and almost fall into a man's lap. They all had the same expression, a strange mixture of lust and disgust, except for my target. His face was pure disgust. Good.

I sit down at the table. "I have all this cash and I _really_ want to play." I pull out a thousand dollars from my bag and place it onto the table. The men all get a gleam in their eyes. They have no problem with taking advantage of a naïve girl. They all deserve a little bad. It's pretty sad to see that they couldn't spot a hustler. I expected better of them.

Twenty five minutes later, I've completely cleaned them all out. They all have despairing faces and I grin. My target looks the most shell-shocked. That makes me grin at them.

"Surely boys, you should have been able to pick out a hustler. But, you can all blame him for me taking all your money." I point at my target with an evil smile.

He looks shocked and defensive as all the other players turn to glare at him. "Why me?!"

"Because you started to win a lot of money, but you didn't use the money as Fate intended. You were supposed to start giving money to support your ten year old daughter's education. You didn't. So I was sent to take your money away."

He chokes. "What? You took my money away because I wasn't giving it to my bitch ex-wife?"

I grumble. What a horribly selfish and arrogant man. I want to turn him into a worm. Then he would see how insignificant he is. I stand and check in the chips for cash. The men continue to watch me, expecting me to leave with my winnings. I take the money to the nearest bin and dump it. The men stand and rush towards me, but they're too late. The lighter has already fallen onto the fragile paper.

They all look at me with murder in their eyes. Ha. Good luck. Laughing like a crazy person, I run out the door. Before I leave, I notice the poker players remembering my earlier words. When they see they cannot catch me, they turn on the man I blamed for my presence. Serves him right. I hate arrogance.

I walk down the alley, forgetting that I looked like a bimbo. Then I run into someone I haven't seen in years.

"Woah, slut. What were you thinking?" Aphrodite looks at me with confusion in her violet eyes, a crease between her eyebrows. Her golden hair is pulled over a soft, round shoulder. Her red wrap dress fits her curves like a glove, actually quite casual for her. I'm a little confused too. Why am I a slut? Then I remembered my current appearance and groan. She'll never let me forget this.

"It's for a job, cow. It was necessary," I exclaim, before returning to my real appearance, with tight red skinny jeans and a black leather jacket.

"Oh, whatever. I can't what to tell Nyx about this!"

"You are not telling my mother!" I screech at her. She laughs at me, then pulls me into a hug. I smile, I really did miss her. She's one of my best friends, the other being Nike. We insult each other a lot, that's just what we do. I love her, really.

"Fine, fine. I won't tell her, but you, my little shrew, are coming with me." She grabs my hand and pulls me along to the portal she had waiting. We walk through and end up in the living room of her villa in Olympus. Paintings centuries' old cover the walls and mechanical pieces are scattered over every surface. Her husband stretches out on a couch and he smiles in greeting, but doesn't say a word. He's always been quiet. Hephaestus and Aphrodite weren't always happily married. To sum up the story, Ditz, during a bad mood, made Zeus's current lover hate him. He was so mad, he was going to send her to Tartarus. Heph put his life on the line and bargained for his wife's release. Ditz wasn't faithful to him then and was absolutely shocked to realise the depth of his love for her through all the pain she'd put him through. She decided that she would be loyal to him. She then grew to love him as deeply as he loved her. It's all rather romantic, actually.

"Hey, Heph." He nods, then goes back to tinkering in the mechanical thing in his hands. "Ditz, why'd you bring me here?"

"I wanted to see you and so does Nike. She'll be coming soon. We need to talk to you, honey."

That doesn't sound good.

_*Woah, thanks so much for the positive response! I'm so grateful. Hopefully, you like my decision in choosing Nemesis to be Hades' love interest. I always found her interesting. Please, review!*_


	3. Chapter 3

**Hope in Dark Places**

_**Chapter Three**_

A man sat at his throne. His wife, her face young and beautiful, stands in front of him. Her eyes were large and she smells of roses. Her face is pleading. The man looks tired as he stares silently at her. Another man stood by the throne, glaring at her with poorly concealed hatred. The throne room was large, made from black stone. It was also rather cold. These people, though, didn't seem affected by the cold. The man on his throne looks sad as he stares at his wife.

My wife is stunning. Her black, silky hair falls almost to her ankles. Her body is petite and slim, covered with skin the colour of manuka honey. Her eyebrows draw down in pleading, her hazel eyes sparkling with tears.

I hate my wife. But, I must admit, her act is getting better. If she was a mortal, she should've been an actress. It almost looks like she actually cares about me. I know it's a lie, but it's a lie that could get addictive. For so long, after we were forced to marry, I was desperate for her love. I wanted it so bad and would do anything for her. I made myself ignore her cheating, pretending that it was just rumours, just words. It was Reap that opened my eyes. He's the only one he hates her more than I do.

"Why are you here, Persephone? You don't have to be in the Underworld anymore, remember?"

She didn't look happy, her pleading expression giving away to anger for a second. Maybe she's not as good an actress as I gave her credit for.

"I am still your wife, Hades, and therefore still the Queen of the Underworld."

"Yes. So what?" Man, I'm sick of her shit.

"Hades, honey, I'm in a little bit of trouble…" Not again.

"With who, Persephone?"

"Umm, well..."

"Who?"

"Nyx. She wants me dead, Hades." I shake my head at her. As if I should care. Nyx never does anything without good reason. She is one of the more level-headed goddesses and even though she can't be considered an Olympian, I respect her. Persephone must have angered her something fierce to deserve Night's wrath.

"Good lord, what did you do, cow?" Reap spits at her. "You bring Hades enough trouble. Deal with your own problems, you immature imbecile!"

Fire lights in her eyes and she drops all pretence of pleading and apology. "Are you going to let him speak to your wife that way? You're weaker than I thought!"

"No one here is weak but you, _petal_. Why should he give a shit about you?" Reap looks like he's going to kill her any second.

I raise my hand and say a single word, imbued with my authority as the King of the Underworld. "Enough." Thanatos has enough dignity to shut up quickly and look away. That's not so easy for Persephone.

"No, he has no right to speak to me that way. I demand th-"

"Enough!" I shout the word loud enough that it reverberates throughout the room. She looks so shocked that she finally shuts her mouth. About fucking time. The way these two bicker, it's almost as if they were the two that were married. Reap does it in my defence, I understand that. It's still irritating, though.

"Persephone, I am not going to help you. To garner Nyx's hatred, you would have had to do one of two things. Either, you murdered one of her children or you tried to have an affair with her husband. Erebus would never have cheated on his wife, so if that's what happened, no doubt you didn't succeed."

She has the decency to look at least a little embarrassed.

"Erebus, Persephone? Have you slept with all the single gods, so now you're moving on to the happily married ones?"

Reap coughs, but I think I catch the word 'skank' in it.

"Please, Hades! She wants to send me to Tartarus!"

"So do I"

"Yeah, but… wait, you do?"

"Yes. More than anything. But I'll settle for divorce."

"What?" She looks absolutely shocked, as if her brain can't compute that I cannot stand to be around her anymore. She seems to think I'm still the same lovesick puppy I was when we met, the one she used to get a throne before realising she didn't want the throne she got. I was such a bloody fool. No more, I want her gone. Preferably now.

"But, but, Hades. You love me." I laugh bitterly. She is so arrogant; she thinks I can still love her through all the shit she put me through. I never loved her enough to be able to forgive her for this. I'm not Hephaestus who loved Aphrodite through everything until she loved him back. No, I never loved Persephone enough and she will never love me.

She roars at me. "Don't you dare laugh at me, you ugly old man!" I roll my eyes, I'm sexy and I know it.

"I've called for Hera. She's the only one who can divorce us. She'll be here soon." It's too bad for Hera that she can only divorce other couples. She can't break her own marriage. Speaking of Hera… the elegant brunette appears in the room. She greets me with a smile, but her eyes have a permanent look of sadness.

"Are you sure about this, Hades?" I nod. Reap grins at her, then turns to me and laughs.

"Grim, you should've told me you were planning this! I'm happy for you, man." I smile at him, but I can imagine that my face has a similar sadness to Hera.

"No, I'm not sure about this! When I'm not married, I'm open game for proposals! Men don't expect more from you when you are already married." Wow, I didn't think that Persephone would be against divorce, as she hates me. But then again, it is for her reasons, not through any feelings about me. Or maybe she just wants to make me miserable for the rest of time. It doesn't matter though, as I have a way out of this.

"Persephone, if we divorce, I will talk to Nyx. If you don't decide to, then I will help her send you to Tartarus. It's your choice." My voice is cold and flat. Even I'm surprised at just how icy I am.

She looks flabbergasted, her perfect mouth hanging open. She eventually nods at Hera. Hera nods back and lifts her hands that glow white with her magic. In a few seconds the bonds between Persephone and I, the shackles that trapped me for so long, are broken. We are no longer married.

The freedom I feel is insane. I tilt my head back and laugh, a full, joyous laugh that makes my stomach hurt. Reap laughs too, but not with the intense happiness I feel. When I open my eyes, both of the women have gone. I stand and pull Reap into a hug.

When we part he smiles at me. "Now, we have to find you another love."

I don't think I can take being in love again. My expression must have shown what I was thinking, because Reap laughs.

"Don't let this experience stop you from falling in love again, Grim. You are different from the other gods. You were never meant to be alone. Now, you just need to find the _right _goddess."

"I just need a little more time."

"You've had thousands of years to get over Persephone's betrayal! Now it's time to move on." Damn, Reap is speaking a lot of sense. However, I just don't think I'm ready. I sigh. I don't know who that goddess could be. I've met them all and I can't remember any that I could possibly fall in love with.

"Speaking of moving on, Apollo's hosting a party." He is? This is the first time I've heard of it. Wonder why that is.

"What kind of party?" I ask with suspicion heavy in my voice.

"Immortal singles night!"

Oh gods.

_*heyo! I just want to say thanks to everyone who's been reading this! Also to my bestie, Nadia! She beta read this for me and gave me the brilliant idea of the immortal singles night. I know, she's pretty great. To answer a guest's question, I don't like Persephone because from the stories, she seemed shallow and selfish to me. I didn't think she was good enough for Hades. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter! I won't update for about a week, sorry. Going on holiday. I'll make sure the next chapter is super good to make up for it. Bye, peeps!* _


	4. Chapter 4

**Hope in Dark Places**

**Chapter Four**

A woman sat in an opulent living room. She has wavy black hair and a tiredly amused expression. She's surrounded by her loved ones. And they're being ridiculous. Three other women chatter excitedly, trying to convince her to do something she _really_ doesn't want to do. These four women are all very beautiful. A man lies on a couch, attempting to ignore all the feminine foolishness.

I love my mother. Believe me, I do. But at the moment, she's being the teeniest bit annoying. Her hair, almost exactly the same as mine, is frizzing out in her frenzy to convince me to go to Apollo's thing. I mean, Immortal's single night? Have you ever heard of something so ridiculous?

"My daughter, you need to get out there! Live a little! And I don't say that to all my children" I roll my eyes; my mother doesn't really bother with my siblings. For some reason, she only likes to interfere with my life.

"Nyx is right, tramp. You need to get yourself a man," Ditz sounds so self-righteous, that I kind of want to punch her.

"That's your solution to everything, Ditz," Nike points out. Nike has been my friend for countless years, even though our goddess natures don't always see eye to eye. Nike is with Ares now, which caused some strife between Ditz and Nike for a while (80 years) before Ditz fell in love with Heph. About time too, as my brother, Anteros, was getting pretty pissed at Ditz. I could tell he was cooking up a scheme and was trying to rope Eros into it. But Anteros is fine now, happy that Heph's love is finally requited.

"And it's a great solution!" Ditz says, throwing a saucy smile over her shoulder at her husband. He winks back then continues whatever he was doing. Eww. Didn't _really_ want to see my friends' bedroom faces.

"Ditz is right though, hun. You do need a man," Mum says with a thoughtful expression. Nike nods her agreement. It sucks being the only single woman in a room.

I don't really get it though. Why is everyone so desperate to see me in love? I'm happy the way I am. Well, no, not quite, but almost. I'm almost happy the way I am. Besides, if you can find me a datable immortal that isn't closely related to me, I'd be grateful. It's the in thing to marry siblings and such, but my brothers have never appealed to me. Call me crazy, but I think it's a little gross to sleep with your brother or sister. I know my parents are siblings and I turned out fine, but I'm always slightly worried that their next kid will be deformed or something.

And don't even get me started on dating mortals! That biz never ends well. When the Erotes tried to hook me up with a certain Kiwi rugby player, I almost sent them to Tartarus. The mortal was gorgeous. And engaged. I wouldn't do that to that poor woman, even though I could've.

Mum breaks me out of my thoughts. "It's already settled, darling. You're going. So now we have to get you ready!" Darn. I recognise the look on my mother's face; she isn't going to let this go.

…

So that's how, three hours later, I'm standing in the massive light-filled ballroom in Apollo's Olympus mansion. Gods and goddesses of all powers dance around, drinking Nectar and laughing. They look to be having a good time. I sigh, and sneak towards the wall hoping that my father, the shadows, will protect me from conversation with these buffoons.

My hair is up in a delicate bun, with ringlets loose at my temples that gently rest on my collarbone. Not delicate because it looks dainty, delicate because my hair might burst out of it any second. Though I can change my appearance at will, I find it very difficult to control my hair while in my true form. I usually don't bother, but my mother insisted I put a bit of effort in.

My dress is red, which looks stunning with my hair but clashes horribly with my eyes. Wearing red with dark green eyes? I don't think so. Ditz forced me to wear this dress; she loves red. The design of it is lovely, admittedly. The bodice was tightly fitted with layered silk and is strap-less. Just below my hips the silk flairs out in smooth lines. However, the colour is completely wrong. Crinkling my brow, I concentrate for a second. The dress is now a deep charcoal grey, instead of the bright crimson. Much better.

Oh gods, I just want to go home. No stunningly handsome male face stands out to me in a room full of stunningly handsome male faces. I see Apollo staring at me in interest from the corner of my eye, but I flip him the bird. _No, thank you_. He looks furious for a moment, but then gets distracted by a passing Dryad.

Caught up in my desire to leave I don't notice him until he touches my arm. I jump, _what the…? _

"Nyx. I don't know why you're here, but I'm glad you are. I need to talk to you about Persephone."

Holy shit. This has to be the most attractive god I have ever seen. And he's so attractive because he's so… different. He has choppy, ink black hair that looks like what I think the mortals call 'bed hair.' Is that right? His eyes are confusing; I just can't tell what colour they are. I think the best way to describe it would be gold hazel with flecks of grey. Strange and exciting. He has a face that is irresistible; dark brows, straight nose and a strong jaw covered in stubble.

My eyes scan down his body. He's wearing a light grey tee shirt that lovingly embraces his leanly muscular frame. For some reason, he's wearing trousers made from faded black denim. Wait… is he wearing shoes? No? What?

I am so shocked and stunned by his handsomeness that it takes me a moment to realise what he said with his rough, deep voice. Did he just call me Nyx?

"Did you just call me Nyx?"

"Excuse me?" he sounds surprised and examines me closer. "Oh, man, sorry. You just look so much like her. From a distance, that is."

"It's okay," I reply breathlessly. Wow, I am not myself today.

"I don't think we've met. What's your name?" He holds his big man mitt out to me. I take his hand, attempting what I think is a pretty smile. He brings my ludicrously small-looking hand up to his lips and kisses it gently. I think I almost fainted. I have never in my life ever felt faint.

"Nemesis, but my friends call me-"

"Nem!" One of my brothers, Thanatos, calls out to me. _No, go away. Shoo, Tos, shoo. _I'm being unfair. Tos is one of my favourite brothersand I haven't seen him in years, as he's been very busy working in the Underworld. But, I want to flirt with Tall, Dark and Handsome over here and I can't really do that with my bro being an awkward third wheel.

"Oh, I see you met Hades," Tos says with a happy smile as he gives me a hug.

_Hades?! _

_._

_._

_._

***Authors Note:** _As often with Greek mythology, the origins of gods and goddesses have many differing stories. For example, some stories say that Aphrodite was Zeus's daughter, while others say she was the result of throwing some god's balls into the sea. Don't really know about that one, truth be told. It's the same with Nyx and Erebus' children. Some stories say that both Eros and Anteros are their children, others that they're Aphrodite's children. To simplify my story, I decided that Anteros, even though he was only briefly mentioned and will not be in this story as of yet, is the son of Nyx and Erebus, and thus Nem's brother. Since Anteros (literally Anti-Eros) is the God of Requited Love, he punishes those who spurn love advances. I didn't think it would be a good idea for him to be Ditz's son when she is well known for her affairs and ill treatment of Hephaestus. It would bring up a lot of resentment, and I didn't want that to interfere with the story. And that, if you bothered to read this, is your Greek Mythology lesson for today. You're welcome :P _


	5. Chapter 5

**Hope in Dark Places**

**_Chapter Five_**

A man stands staring at a beautiful woman. He couldn't stop staring. Her beauty was unmatched. She looks right back at the man, her wide green eyes searching his. They seemed to be having a bit of a moment. He greets her, taking her hand in his while she introduces herself. But then they're interrupted.

I met a beautiful woman today. And I just stared at her. And she hates me. It wasn't my most brilliant moment, confusing her for someone else. When up close, she doesn't look all that much like Night. Her features aren't quite so delicate, her body more curvy. She's far, far more attractive. Not saying that Nyx isn't attractive. She's just not as attractive.

But, I digress. The best way to tell this story, now that I've told you the end, is to go back to the beginning. Then return, periodically, to the end. After which, you'll know my side. And then, who knows, I might just tell you what happens next. That's if you're lucky. Who am I even talking to?

Moving on.

_Previously that same day_

"Hades, just give it a chance! You might just enjoy yourself!" my best friend, a gleeful glint in his eye, attempts to drag me to the door. Ha, nice try. I do crazy squats. There's no way he's movin' me; I don't want to be moved.

"I don't want to," I grumble like a whiny mortal teenager. Pretty much like my ex-wife, I guess. Oh, that felt good to think. _Ex-wife._ Imagine what that would feel like to say. To someone other than the audience in my head. "I don't want another wife."

"Who said anything about getting married? _Mon pauvre, tu as besoin_ _une copine.__"_

"_Non, pas du tout__." _He's not the only one who can speak French.

"There won't be any marriages or engagements, I promise. Hopefully for you, just sex. Something I hope you can remember how to have." Reap grins at me slyly. Well, there's no need to be crude. Or question my capabilities in bed. So I glare at him, but finally let him drag me inside. If I do somehow end up married, it'll be his head on a plate. The look in my eyes must tell him so, for his cheekiness fades for a second, replaced with a hint of fear. But then the smirk is back.

Reap wanted me to go in a tux. That wasn't happening. Then he wanted me to go in ancient armour. Ha, who am I, Zeus? In the end, I just wore a slightly different outfit as before. My shirt is now grey and my jeans are faded black. Still no shoes, though. I can't stand the vile contraptions. And it's not as if the bottoms of my feet are going to get shredded. I'm a god, remember?

I can tell Reap isn't awfully fond of my current apparel. Meh, he's lucky he's actually making me go. So what if my 'attire isn't appropriate?'

"Good lord, Reap. What in Tartarus' name have you gotten me into?"

Gods and goddesses flitter about in their brightly jewelled finery, champagne flutes sparkling with Nectar. Couples litter the divans scattered throughout the ballroom in different stages of debauchery. The noise is intense, masculine murmuring and feminine giggles an undertone to the music. Music, ha, one can hardly call it that. More like arrogant tugging and plucking of abused harp strings.

These too perfect people grin and laugh, but their eyes are dead. Do the immortals even live anymore?

Eh, not my problem. I try to shake my misgivings about so called eternal life. Not my issue. Though, I do think that these people need a quick dip in the River Lethe. Maybe if they forget, they'll remember what it means to live.

Reap appears in my focus point. He looks concerned as he waves a hand in my face.

"Are you okay? I know this isn't your usual scene, but you may enjoy it if you give it a shot." I don't think that's very likely, but I don't tell him that. I think that even he's slightly disappointed with this evenings 'entertainment.' I force a smile.

"C'mon then. Let's mingle." He smiles back gratefully and we start to circulate the room.

…

An hour of bland conversation later, I spot a goddess I wasn't expecting to see. Nyx's raven locks are pinned up, but a couple of curls escape from her temples. Her dress is a dark, stormy grey and suits her figure perfectly. Wait, has she always been that voluptuous?

I'm quite close with her, as she and her husband have a place in the Underworld. They just haven't stayed there for a couple of years. Maybe she's going for a new look. That's really unusual, though, as it's a kind of unspoken rule that when in a gathering of Immortals, you take your true form.

I guess it doesn't matter. No one would say anything even if she was breaking the rules. She's one of the truly ancient of us, as old as Gaia. Nyx was born from Khaos, she's been here pretty much since the world began. None of us would mess with her.

Anyway, since she is here, I should talk with her now about Persephone. I don't really feel like taking another trip to Olympus any time soon. For some reason, Nyx is sticking to the wall. Strange again, as Night is usually the life of the party. All well. I don't really care.

I walk up to her, reaching to touch her arm. I don't think she saw me coming, as she was glaring at Apollo. She jumps, turning to face me.

Nyx. I don't know why you're here, but I'm glad you are. I need to talk to you about Persephone." Her eyes widen as she stares at me, her bow-shaped mouth gently falling open. Hm? What's with that reaction? We've met before, many times. Nyx is my best friend's mother, for goodness sake.

A few seconds of awkward silence pass, her eyes scanning me. Sudden realisation causes her eyebrows to draw down and her eyes to narrow.

"Did you just call me Nyx?" Huh?

"Excuse me?" Oh, jeez. What have I done? I've become dumber and lazier than I thought. All this time thinking about how _Nyx _didn't seem right and picking out peculiarities, and I didn't even once consider the possibility that this woman _wasn't_ Nyx. "Oh, man, sorry. You just look so much like her. From a distance, that is."

That's the truth. Now that I've realised that she isn't Nyx, I can see how much she isn't Nyx. There are definitely similarities, but just as much as any daughter looks like her mother. Which is what this woman must be; one of Nyx's daughters. Her eyes are the wrong colour and shape, even. Nyx's eyes are a starry night, literally. Her irises are black with sparkles dotted within. She loves her eyes and never changes them.

This woman's eyes are a bright, startling emerald-green. She has the shape of Erebus' eyes, almond, which are surrounded by long, sooty lashes. At the moment, those eyes are filled with strange wonder.

"It's okay," she replies, sounding short of breath. I must've given her quite a fright. Not sure why, I get the real feeling I should make it up to her.

"I don't think we've met. What's your name?" I hold my hand out, which she places her soft, white hand into. I bring her hand to my mouth and press my lips on her sweet-smelling skin. What fragrance is that? It's fruity, but not an overpowering scent. Pomegranate?

"Nemesis, but my friends call me-"

"Nem!" Reap rushes over, rudely interrupting her. He really should take lessons in being a wing man. How does he even know her anyway? Oh, right. Durr. Obviously, she's his sister. That makes me mad actually. Why hasn't he introduced me to his delightful sister earlier? Let alone that, I can't believe that there is a goddess I actually haven't met yet. She's a relatively well-known goddess, too, for a minor. The Goddess of Revenge, eh. Could use some of that.

"Oh, I see you met Hades," Reap says as he pulls her into a hug, forcing me to release the hand I only just noticed I was still holding.

Her eyes widen in shock, then her whole face erupts into anger.

"Hades?!" She pushes against her brother's shoulders and sends me a death glare. Man, if looks could send one to Tartarus… I'd be a goner.

"Hey, sugar," for some reason, I've fallen into a Southern American accent. Don't even ask. "What's your issue with me?"

That just increases the rate of the lasers she's trying to mentally kill me with.

"You don't even remember?!" her screeched words almost give me a headache. But they do force me to pause. Remember what?

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***Katy's Note:**_ heyo, my wonderful readers! You guys are great, I hope you know. Ooo, I think you guys liked all the drama I wrote in the end. Sorry about the little cliffy at the end. Well, no, not really :P _

_Please remember to review, as I've become addicted to reviews. Seriously. Also, I only got one review for my last chapter :( I don't want to seem greedy, but I really appreciate reviews. It takes twenty seconds, just to tell me what you liked, disliked, or want me to include. I'd be very grateful. Feel free to pm me any ideas. Have a great day, and don't forget to click the pretty little review button._

_Sorry, I'm already asking a lot from you, but could you please check out one of my bestie's fanfic? It's a Percy Jackson fic about Nico called 'A Life in Death,' and her author name is Nadenshka. Thanks!_

_ Katy out._


	6. Chapter 6

**Hope in Dark Places**

**Chapter Six**

A woman in an elegant ball gown hisses at a casually dressed man. Her face is bright red with hot fury, her fists clenched tight. The only thing holding her back from flying at Casual Man was her brother's arms firm around her waist. This woman was screaming curses at Casual Man, making quite a scene actually. Casual Man looked very, very confused.

_I can't believe him! After all he put me through; he doesn't even have the decency to remember! _Muscles trembling with the need to punch him, I tug harshly at Tos's arms.

"Let me go!" He doesn't let go.

Seemingly concerned eyes of the party goers are turned my way. I do not truly believe that they _are_ concerned; Immortals are brilliant at faking emotion. None of my anger at Hades was faked, however. How dare he look so bloody handsome?! I would much prefer him to look like a nasty old troll.

Speaking of Hades, he looks utterly baffled. So does Tos. My own brother doesn't even remember! The worst day of my life and no one can recall it but me. How completely unfair is that? Or is it a good thing? I'm too mad to care!

Well, Hades can shove it up his lovely, toned ass! That worm isn't worth my time! I start to settle myself, in an effort to get Thanatos to let me go.

"Nem, are you going to be rational and talk about what's going on in your head right now?" Tos sounds wary, afraid that I'm only pretending to be calm and will lash out as soon as I am able. He's right. As soon as I feel a loosening around my waist, I'm away. My knuckles connect to Hades' nose. Oh, I love that satisfying crunch and spray of golden blood.

He stumbles back, hands cupped on his face, his beautiful eyes filled with shock and pain. No, ugly eyes, they're horribly disfigured eyes. I cannot bear to look into them. _Or, look away. _Shut up, saucy voice in my head. You don't know what you're talking about.

"Nemesis, what the hell?!" Tos's arms are restraining me again, but it doesn't matter. I've had my fun. Letting my body release its tension, I fling Troll-Face a self-satisfied grin.

"Reapth, your sssthister issth messthed up," Hades mumbles; the words are barely discernible. I think he said something about me. Surely, Tos isn't going to stand for that.

Turns out he is, as Tos just nods. That betrayer! My own brother! I am really tempted to send an elbow into his face, before I realise how out of character I'm being. Aren't I usually an even-tempted person? Why am I letting this guy, _Hades_, make me behave this way? Whenever I see this man, I act so completely different. I am not _me_ when I see him.

Yet again, he doesn't even remember me. He doesn't remember the last time he met, when I was only just a young goddess, with an appearance and maturity of a mortal eleven year old. That was so long ago, but I remember that day as clearly as yesterday.

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_A few thousand years ago_

I'm so nervous. My limbs are shaking with pent up excitement, my fingers twitching, making it rather difficult to practice the harp. My hands keep creeping up to fondle my hair; does it still look okay? I don't have very good control of my hair yet, but Mother says that control of appearance comes with time and minimal practice. This is good, as I practice enough things as it is.

"Nemesis, please stop touching your hair. Keep practicing the harp, dear, it will keep your mind off things." My mother's stern, but somehow gentle, voice comes from the doorway and I jump. How long has she been there? Oh gods, I hope she didn't see my Random-Bursts-of-Laughter period. Or my Get-Up-and-Shake-Nerves-Away period. Or my… why do I always do dumb stuff when I'm nervous?

Stopping my hand from sneaking up on my hair again, I bring it down to straighten the skirt of my chiton. Mother smiles fondly at me and moves to stand before me, cupping my face in her hand. Her skin is really soft and her hands are absolutely tiny. Starry night eyes crinkle with love for me. She and Father never admitted such, but I knew I was their favourite daughter. My powers suited theirs, instead of running in the opposite direction like my sister, Hemera. The child of Night and Shadows as the Goddess of Daylight? Ridiculous. Though, at the moment, I think there is a power struggle going on between her and Eos. All well, I never liked Hemera in the first place. She's married to our brother! I mean, gross!

"Nemesis, sweetheart, what is the matter?" Mother looks a little concerned for me; she knows as well as I do how big a deal today is for me. Today, I meet my betrothed.

I've never seen him before, but I know all about him. Recently, he and his brothers won the Titan war. Zeus became the new ruler of the Immortals, usurping his father, but I am not to marry him. I am to marry the new King of the Underworld. I am to marry Hades.

My parents were neutral to the war; they considered themselves above it, which truthfully, they are. But I loved to hear about it, about the stories of courage and valour. My parents decided not to pick sides, so that whoever won, they and I would be safe. They wanted the Olympians to win, I know that, but they didn't want to side with them and deal with it if they lost.

It's been ten years since the Olympians defeated the Titans and my parents are on very good terms with the young God of Wealth, sharing a part of his domain. Our engagement is a way to ensure good will between them and the Olympians.

It's an arranged marriage, so I should be scared and angry, right? No. I'm not. I was always expecting an arranged marriage, and it could be a lot worse. I mean, I could be forced to marry Thanatos. And I've heard great things about Hades. Nike, my niece and best friend, says he's very handsome.

So I'm looking forward to marrying him. I will have to marry someone; it might as well be a handsome, young King.

Today, I finally get to meet him.

"Darling, I understand. You're excited to meet you betrothed. But, please stop fidgeting. You are ruining my artwork," Mother laughs, giving my cheek a light tap.

I smile at her, but my eyes go to the window. A dark carriage drawn by black horses with fire eyes pulls up at the entrance of our Olympus palace. My father, dressed formally in black, walks out to greet the man exiting the carriage, who was also dressed formally in black armour. Father is a tall man, but this gentleman matches him. Father is broader, however, but this man is clearly very masculine.

They head inside. I'm shaking again, but in fear.

"What if he doesn't like me?" Tears fill my eyes.

"No, no! Don't ruin your face!" Mother smiles at my panic. She probably thinks it's adorable. "He'll love you. Trust me."

"Nemesis. Come here, please," the voice I trust most in the world, my father, echoes through the house. Turning to the door, I almost run in my eagerness to meet Hades. Almost forgetting, I fling a nervous smile at Mother. She smiles sweetly in return.

I enter the parlour and stare at the man standing next to my father. Oh, my gods. He is absolutely gorgeous. I really lucked out on this one. I fall into a clumsy curtsy, briefly forgetting that was a mortal thing and that I am actually equals with him. Stumbling into a standing position, I hold my hand out while giggling nervously.

His eyes, I can't quite tell the colour. They look hazel from here. He had black, messy hair and a clean-shaven strong jaw. I jaw I kind of wanted to nibble at. Okay, woah that was a weird thought.

His perfect lips are pulled into a smile. He's laughing at me, I'm sure. Father definitely is; he's usually very calm and stoic. Now, his chest is rumbling from unrestrained laughter. Father turns to smile at my betrothed.

"Hades, this is my daughter, Nemesis."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Nemesis." His voice is warm and deep. Oh, gods.

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_Skip forwards a hundred years_

"I can't believe that bastard! Years of loving him, and he tosses me aside for _Persephone? _I don't fucking care that Zeus wants him to marry his daughter! How dare he?! I've waited so long for him. For him to be settled into his job, for him to be ready. And now this?!"

"Nemesis, he doesn't really have a choice. Zeus wants what he wants. And Persephone is really beautiful."

"I don't care, Nike! I trusted him," my voice breaks, my anger fading as melancholy sets it. Tears fill my eyes, my legs give out and I sink to the floor.

"I trusted him."

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_**Katy's Note:**_ _Over a thousand views, people! And in only five chapters?! You guys are incredible! I'm sorry that this chapter is sad. I got a little choked up writing it. But, I felt it was important to explain why Nem had such a strong reaction to him. They only met that once and Nem forced herself to forget everything about him to deal with the heartbreak. Hades forgot about her; he was so distracted by Persephone's beauty and then her betrayal. Before you get mad at me for making Hades a bit of a douche, I want to tell you that I never intended for him to be perfect. I wanted him flawed. He's made a few mistakes, especially with regards to Nem, but he's lived a long time. We all know that he's amazing, he's just not perfect._

_Bye, peeps!_


	7. Chapter 7

**Hope in Dark Places**

_**Chapter Seven**_

Dazzling golden blood dripped from a bewildered man's nose. However, he wasn't worried about his broken nose or the stains growing on his shirt. He was worried about the woman standing before him. The man's best friend restrained her, holding her back as she screamed insults at him. Somehow, just by the mention of this man's name, the previously calm woman turned into an angry, raging one. He must have done something terrible to deserve so much ferocity. He hated to think of what it could be.

The throbbing, healing ache in my nose should have been enough to send me into a tornado of fury, but I wasn't angry. I felt… guilty. I haven't felt guilty for a very, very long time.

The ridiculous thing is I don't even know why I feel guilty! I don't remember at all. I know I'm old, but how can I forget something that clearly strongly affects someone else? Am I that heartless?

Gods, I didn't even know. I complain and complain about the carelessness of the immortals, of how they only think about themselves. And yet, here I am, the cause of this beautiful woman's distress, while I've completely forgotten what I did. Is distress really the right word? An actually frightening amount of satisfaction gleams in her emerald eyes as my blood drips over my chin.

I should stop standing here like an idiot, letting my blood stain my shirt. You can't impress a woman of her like with blood stains. Wait, impress? No, she's a maniac! I don't need to impress her; she was the one that made me bleed in the first place!

Still can't just stand here like a moron, though. I grip the hem of my shirt and use it to wipe my face clean. Any rational person would've stormed away by now. Clearly I'm not very rational. I just want to know what I did.

Flicking Reap a confused look, I step a little closer to his crazy sister.

"We've met?" I ask her, trying to make my voice as gentle and not-arsehole-like as possible. It didn't work. Murder shone through her stare. Damn, if I could have that amount of emotion… That's why I like her! She's emotional! I'm so dumb sometimes. Every immortal around me looks so blank and emotionless. This woman, she's different. So vibrant and crazy and temperamental and _alive. _I'm drawn to her like a moth to a flame because, well, she is a flame.

Does that make me a moth? No, I'm too handsome and dignified to be a moth. I'm more of a dragonfly. You know, all stunning and-

"No, I just like to scream at and punch random strangers! Of course we've met."

-… I'll finish that thought later.

Nemesis (ha, so apt) fills her voice with sarcasm, her eye roll an unnecessary effect of an already overdone point. Goodness, I like her.

"You're right, that was a silly question. Perhaps a better one would be 'how have we met'?"

She simply nods. Only nods. Why isn't she answering the question?

"Why aren't you answering the question?" Nemesis quirks an eyebrow with a mischievous curl to her lip.

"You didn't actually ask me the question. You asked me if I thought it was a better one."

"Semantics! How did we meet?" Grr, her smartass replies are starting to get on my nerves.

However, Nemesis still doesn't answer. Instead her eyes fill with real tears, a breathtaking sadness drowning all the anger in a sea of melancholy. Getting all poetic up in this biz. _No, Hades. Now's not the time to be proud of a pretty sentence you wrote in your head._

And now I feel guilty again. Fantastic. Nemesis slumps in her brothers arms; as her anger dies, so too does her energy. Without thinking, my hand reaches out to, I don't know, catch her? Our eyes meet my hazel to her green. And I feel remorse like I have never known.

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I'm not sure how long we stood there like that. My arm stretched out awkwardly between us, Reap helping her to stand, our eyes not looking away for a second. It's a rather out of body experience, really. I'm vaguely aware of questioning twitters and nervous throat-clearings of the spectators. They're starting to sound a little impatient. To hell with them. Hehe.

Like I said, I'm only slightly aware of this. Most of my mind is centred at the emeralds of this absolutely miserable woman. We seem to be having some kind of conversation that isn't actually being spoken.

_I will never be able to forgive you._

_Tell me, sweet. Tell me what I did, so I can make it right._

_You can never make it right. I'm broken. _

_Don't speak like that. You're perfect. _

Rather strange that I think 'speak' at her and not 'think.' But it really does seem a conversation to me.

Remaining locked in this silent battle, I don't notice when all the murmuring in the background has stopped. Until a hand falls on my shoulder.

"Hades. What are you doing with my daughter?"

Oh shit. Finally breaking the chains of mental warfare, I turn to see the two people I truly didn't want to see right now; Nyx and Erebus. Her parents. Her father's big, threatening hand rests firmly on my shoulder. His face suggests he is not someone to be trifled with now. Nyx is the same; her usually kind face cold and serious, in contrast to her softly spoken question.

It's so strange to see this couple looking at me like this. We are on good terms. My confusion (will I ever stop feeling confused?) must have been a beacon on my face, as they soften their expressions a little. Nyx and Erebus give each other a look, and I'm not sure, but to me it looked like a cross between exasperation and amusement.

"Wow, you truly did forget." Jeez. Would people please stop going on about what I've forgotten! I know that I've forgotten something. They don't have to keep telling me. It's that sentence that breaks me.

"Instead of just telling me that I've forgotten something important, could you please, _please _tell me what it was?!" I'm almost screaming at them. They don't deserve it, but I'm just so fucking frustrated with all these secrets about shit I am supposed to know!

Erebus looks like he's about to deck me, but Nyx laughs softly.

"Hades, meet your fiancée." She says with a small gesture to the still catatonic Nemesis.

Holy shit. My body locks down. I become completely still, my face blank. This is how I deal with shock. Pathetic, isn't it? But I just can't help it. Shock makes me shut down like a robot.

My what?

My _fiancée_?

Before I can help it, I throw an outraged glare at Reap. He looks down in shame.

I bring my hand up and squeeze the bridge of my nose before thinking better of it, hissing in pain because my nose hasn't quite healed yet.

"You promised me no engagements, Thanatos," I growl through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry, Hades. I had forgotten you were betrothed to my sister thousands of years ago."

Nemesis sighs, still sad and very tired. Lifting a hand she starts to rub her forehead as she shrugs away from Reap.

"I'm glad that at least my parents remembered. All the other parties involved seemed to have forgotten. I was worried I was going crazy and had just imagined the whole thing when it appeared that I was the only one who knew about it," she sighs again and makes her way to her father. Resting her hand on his forearm, she says "you don't need to threaten him, Father. I've already broken his nose."

Erebus erupts into deep, rumbling laughter. "That's my girl." He takes his hand from my shoulder and ruffles his daughter's hair, as if she were five years old. _Erebus ruffles the hair of the little curly-haired goddess._ Where's that come from? I close my eyes and attempt to concentrate on the memory. Strange how little things like that, things you weren't away you took any notice of, can send you on a little trip down memory lane.

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_A few thousand years ago_

Grumbling to myself, I pull myself out of my carriage. Gods, I really didn't need this right now. I have more important things to deal with: trying to sort out a kingdom I didn't want, making sure that the Underworld is running smoothly, enjoying the spoils of war, planning Zeus's assassination… the last one was a joke. I swear on the river Styx. I really didn't have the time to marry a young goddess. Well, to be fair, I'm not marrying her now. Just meeting the maiden. But still, I can't be bothered with this.

However, the goddess in question was the daughter of Erebus and Nyx, and it was important to gain an alliance with the two ancients. So here I am. Standing before a dark marble palace, a tall, muscular god almost as old as time coming to meet me. Great to be me.

"Greetings, my lord," Erebus says formally, but doesn't bow. I may be a king, but I've only been living a second compared to him.

"I should be saying that to you, Erebus." Lips pulling up into a small smile, he lifts a hand.

"Nonsense; I am no king. Welcome to my home." Taking his hand, we shake firmly, my bones scraping against each other from his probably unintentional strength. I refuse to flinch. He turns and guides me to his palace, into a parlour. Our 'casual' chat is formal and stilted. I'm not quite comfortable with this man. He keeps it well restrained, but there is still the sign of his dark power hovering behind the surface. Good lord, he's going to be my father-in-law.

Quick paced tapping becomes louder from the hall, before the door is thrown open and my fiancée walks in. My _fiancée. _She looks like a mortal 13-year-old, her pale round face stunned and full of enthusiasm. Silky black locks fall down her back, and her eyes are the gleaming forest green of emeralds, like her father. She promises to be a great beauty in a few hundred years.

Stumbling into the room, she falls into a clumsy curtsy. Red floods her face as she stands and holds out her hand. Smothering chuckles, I take her hand. Erebus wasn't even trying to disguise his laughter. Even she was giggling at herself. That's a good sign; being able to laugh at yourself shows confidence and good humour.

"Hades, this is my daughter, Nemesis," Erebus says, his voice warmer than I have ever heard it.

"_It's a pleasure to meet you, Nemesis." And it really, truly, was. _

_._

_._

_._

The memory fades, and I'm left in shock. Oh gods. It wasn't long after that that I met Persephone and she consumed me. I was so completely taken by her, I had forgotten all about my little betrothed. Shit, I had treated her so badly. Nemesis was so sweet and happy then. And now she goes into a flying rage just by seeing me, years later. There are no words to describe this, this… sorrow. I have never regretted anything more than I regret ever hurting this incredible woman.

I am such an arse. It's just when Zeus visited me that time, his utterly beautiful daughter in tow, suggesting that I marry her, I couldn't resist. I'm a guy, okay? If you don't understand how I couldn't say no, you obviously haven't seen Persephone. It's only once you know her, that you realise she's poison. So we married and I suffered for thousands of years. Clearly, I wasn't the only one that suffered from my weakness.

If only I had had the strength to say no then.

I'm staring at Nemesis now; she really is beautiful, even with her face clouded with sadness. I try to communicate my regret, hoping to incite the mental connection we shared before, but it doesn't seem to be working. Her parents seem content to just let me try figure everything out. Finally, I have no choice but to speak.

"Nemesis… I'm so sorry." She looks away from me, and lifts a hand, her palm out toward me, as if to stop me from saying more. I will not be deterred.

"No, I'm serious. I hurt you, and I know I don't deserve your forgiveness, especially since I forgot all about it, but I truly am sorry." I feel like the epitome of a pleading mess.

"'Sorry' doesn't fix everything, Hades. Doesn't fix anything, really."

"I know. But I'm really hoping it's a step in the right direction." Now, she'll never admit it, probably not for years to come, but I know that I saw a little smile on her lips. I'd swear my immortality on it.

"I saw that smile, Nem. I know I did," I can't stop my grin. She doesn't look sad anymore. She looks grumpy, definitely. Homicidal, it wouldn't surprise me. But a little of the old spark is back in her eyes.

"There was no smile, Hades. Shut up."

"C'mon, Princess. You can't help but like me. I'm pretty damn charming." Yep, a smile for sure.

"Oh, arrogant much? You're an arse. And who said that you could call me Nem?"

Laughing, I absolutely love this banter. I haven't talked to anyone like this, except Reap, for so long. Everyone seems to be shocked by our sudden change in behaviour towards each other, mine joking, hers angrily amused. P.S, that's an oxymoron. I love that word. Anyway, she doesn't look like she wants to kill me anymore, which is a good sign, and she doesn't look so painfully sad.

However, my smile dies quickly with the appearance of my _favourite _baby brother. Wanting to wipe that smirk from his mouth, I glare at him. Fucking Zeus ruins everything!

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**Katy's Note:** 'Sup bros! I'm back, baby! Haha, missed you guys ;D Anyway, sorry it's taken me _forever _to update, I had a lot of studying and exams to do. But, I'm pretty much done for the year, so from now on I'll be updating at least once every two weeks. That'll be fun, won't it? I've got some questions for you, so if you please review and answer them, I'll be super grateful.

-Do you like the paragraph at the start of each chapter that is no one's P.O.V? Or do you think it's served its purpose and I should stop it?

-Do you like the way the plot is going? Feel free to send me suggestions! I have a vague idea of where I want things to go, but things can change.

-Would you like the chapters to be longer, or do you like the snappy chappies? Keep in mind, longer chapters mean longer between each update.

If I'm not being too demanding, I would really appreciate your feedback. Thanks so much, peeps!

Katy


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